No. 2 Texans quiet Cougars 86-67 Sunday

PLANO — The second-ranked South Plains College men's basketball team was on the road for the first team this season Sunday as they took down Collin County Community College 86-67 at the Cougar Gymnasium.

The Texans improve to 4-0 on the year and will be back on the hardwood Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. against Otero College at the Texan Dome, their final game before opening conference play against Howard College on Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m. at the Dome.

"We made enough plays to win today and I think our size bothered them a little bit," South Plains head coach Steve Green said. "When we play aggressively we're a pretty good team, but we definitely have a lot we need to improve on defensively."

The Texans had five players score in double figures with sophomore guard Benjamin Bayela leading all scorers with 19 points, knocking down five 3s, and scored fifteen of his final total in the second half. Sophomore Jevonnie Scott recorded 17 points, his fourth straight game scoring in double figures, netting 13 in the final 20 minutes, while Philmon Gebrewhit knocked down a pair of 3s, tallying 12 points for the Texans.

South Plains' Rivaldo Soares finished with 17 points, 12 coming in the first half, while Myron Gardner, who was named the NJCAA National Player of the Week on Wednesday poured in 14 points, his fourth consecutive game in double figures offensively.

"Phil has been playing well, and I think part of that is he's not living and dying with his jump shot," Green said. "He's just playing basketball, and when you start making hustle plays, all of the other things just kind of fall in line. I told these guys there's a lot of boxes they check — size, strength, and ability, but we have to be smarter and have a lot to improve on."